The Muppets Studio is blaming "unacceptable business conduct" for its dismissal of Steve Whitmire as the longtime puppeteer of Kermit the Frog. This explanation, issued Monday, follows Whitmire's emotional blog post after his firing was made public. He said he learned last October that the role of Kermit would be recast. Whitmire had been with the Muppets since 1978, and took over as Kermit after the untimely death of Muppets founder Jim Henson in 1990.

The Muppets Studio is blaming "unacceptable business conduct" for its dismissal of Steve Whitmire as the longtime puppeteer of Kermit the Frog.

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This explanation, issued Monday, follows Whitmire's emotional blog post after his firing was made public.

He said he learned last October that the role of Kermit would be recast.

Whitmire had been with the Muppets since 1978, and took over as Kermit after the untimely death of Muppets founder Jim Henson in 1990.